Logical Reasoning

Let’s start with some basic logical reasoning questions involving number series.

General Approach: First look at the numbers, do they increase or decrease? Then, if they do change, then by how much? For example, if the question asks what the next number in the series is and begins “2, 4, 6, 8, 10…,” then I would see that the numbers are increasing by 2 each time. So, I would add 2 to the last number and the correct answer would be 12.

1. 4, 2, 1, ½, ¼…what should be the next number in the series?

• ⅓
• ⅛
• 1/14
• 1/12

The pattern is being cut in half, so the next number in the series after ¼ should be ⅛.

2. 7, 10, 8, 11, 9, 12…what should be the next number in the series?

• 6
• 8
• 10
• 13

The pattern is increasing by 3, then decreasing by 2, so the next number in the series after 12 should be 10.

3. 8, 16, 12, 24, 20, 40, 36… what should be the next number in the series?

• 8
• 54
• 60
• 72

The pattern is doubling and then decreasing by 4, so the next number in the series after 36 should be 72.